GM May Push Farther Off-Road With 2015 SUVs

General Motors Co. may build a more extreme off-road variant of its all-new full-size SUVs that go on sale next spring, GM's top truck engineer tells Automotive News.

GM already offers an off-road package for the Chevrolet Tahoe/Suburban and the GMC Yukon/Yukon XL that includes off-road styling cues, stiffer shocks and bigger wheels and tires.

But the redesigned 2015 SUVs represent an opportune moment to design-in much more offroad capability, says Jeff Luke, executive chief engineer for GM trucks. He notes that greater off-road capability is one reason buyers gravitate to big body-on-frame SUVs instead of the myriad unibody crossover options.